Fade To Black Ch2 :Kiryu Zero:
by PhoenixFeatherEmber
Summary: The second chapter to my Fade To Black series. Enjoy! Always, Phoenix
1. Chapter 1

"The Winter" by Balmorhea: watch?v=l9cVN4ZqNIM

A velvety blackness enveloped your entire being as you stood there all alone. The silence caused your ears to ring. Placing a hand in front of your face, you discovered it wasn't even visible. Finding no other option, you blindly walked forward, hands swimming through the sea of black. Suddenly, you heard something, a female's voice. It sounded like laughter. Out of the darkness, you felt a hand tightly grabbing your wrist. Looking behind you, you noticed that the hand belonged to a concerned Kiryu Zero. Before you could even ask, he pulled you away from where you were going.

"_! Get out of here now!"

Confused, you searched his face for an answer to what was going on, only to find an emotion of fear sweeping through his eyes as he looked behind you. Your eyes peered ahead of you to find the source of fear only to be met with two red, glowing eyes protruding out of the darkness. Your heart began to thump wildly as you felt your knees begin to buckle. Suddenly, a shrill scream sounded from somewhere in the dark. You covered your ears and squeezed your eyes shut.

The scream suddenly sounded from your own throat, jolting you awake. You sat up in bed, breathing heavily. Your entire body was drenched in sweat as you haphazardly reflected on your recent nightmare. Suddenly, you felt the all-too-familiar feeling of having overslept. Quickly, you looked at your alarm clock. You had overslept for twenty minutes!

You yelled obscenities as you threw the covers off of you.

You skipped taking a shower and instead quickly put on your school uniform. After putting on one of your shoes, you hopped to the door while trying to slip on the other one. You snatched your backpack, locked the door, and ran down the dormitory hallway. You sprinted down the stairs and fell part of the way down, skinning your knee. Once you opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, you kept running, paying no attention to the other students gawking at you. The building to your homeroom was in your view, and you ran with all your might, your hair flying wildly in the wind and your heart racing in your chest. The starting bell rang as you wrenched open the door and ran down the hallway. When you finally reached the classroom, you yanked the door open and went inside, panting. Every single student, including your teacher, Mr. Lee, stared at you, wide-eyed.

"That's the fourth time this semester, Miss _," Mr. Lee stated

Shoulders hunched, you walked up the stairs to your seat, which was located in the back of the classroom. You could feel the stares burning the back of your form as you walked.

"If you're late to my class one more time this semester, I'll have to give you a detention."

You plopped into your seat, a sigh escaping your lips. Mr. Lee droned on, and eventually, you tuned him out. You were seated next to your best friend, Cross Yuuki. Yuuki was the headmaster's daughter. She was the nicest girl you knew at Cross Academy, the only one who didn't seem to have an unhealthy obsession with the students of the Night Class, unlike every other girl in the Day Class. She turned to look at you, her bright, chestnut-colored eyes darkening with concern. She leaned to her left, her shoulder gently touching yours.

"_, you don't look so good. You look like you got ran over by a train. Have you been sleeping okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah," you lied. You didn't tell anyone about your nightmare, the same exact one you've had for over a month now.

"Miss_," Mr. Lee yelled from the front of the classroom. A rosy blush tinted your cheeks as your peers turned their attention on you. "Since you failed to be in class on time today, I will tell you what you missed." Internally, you made a sour face at him. "The final for this class will consist of a partner project. Since this is mythology class, the project will be about any mythological creature of your choice. I expect to have a well-written research paper along with a ten minute presentation in front of the class. It will be 30% of your final grade."

You looked at Yuuki, who looked back at you helpless.

"Sorry," she mouthed, "I'm taken."

Seeing the eminent desperation on your face, Mr. Lee stated, "Everyone has a partner except for Kiryu Zero. So, you will partner up with him."

You looked to the other side of the room at Kiryu. He returned your glance with a thousand-dagger glare, along with a permanent scowl on his face. You grabbed your belongings and moved over to the empty seat next to him. After fifteen minutes of continuous droning, Mr. Lee instructed the class to discuss with their partners their plans for the project. Soon a hum of voices invaded the room like a swarm of bees. Your teacher walked up to Zero and you, a notebook and pen in his hand. After flipping his notebook to find a certain page, Mr. Lee cleared his throat.

"Have you decided on your topic of research?" he asked, clicking his pen open.

Realizing you hadn't given it any thought, you looked at Kiryu.

"What do you want to research?" you asked.

"I don't care," he replied, folding his arms.

"Well, why don't we do...vampires?" you asked, thinking it an easy topic.

He jerked his head toward you, a sudden look of disgust on his face.

"No," he growled, his voice seeming to go down at least an octave.

"Surprisingly, vampires aren't taken. You guys could research that," Mr. Lee commented.

"Yeah, Kiryu, why not? You know, it would be such an easy topic to-"

"I said, 'no'!" he raised his voice.

You raised your eyebrows in shock at his immediate defiance to your suggestion. Clearly, this guy wasn't easily persuadable.

"Why don't you guys just pick vampires? It's an easy subject. Besides, it'll stop the fighting," Mr. Lee persuaded.

"Fine," Kiryu finally said through gritted teeth.

Mr. Lee walked away, and you just sat there, not making any eye contact with Kiryu, afraid he'd bite your head off. The ending bell rang, and you grabbed your backpack and exited the classroom. School seemed to go by fairly quickly for you, and when the final bell for school to end rang, you felt relieved. Once you walked outside, you interlocked your fingers above your head and stretched your back as you took in a deep breath. The green grass swayed lazily as a faint, warm breeze blew. The weather seemed to put everyone in good spirits, and you walked to a nearby bench with a hop in your step. Once you sat down, you looked up at the weeping willow that hung above your head, its leaves dancing with the gentle wind. You closed your eyes, feeling the sunlight warm your skin as you sat there. All of a sudden, it suddenly dawned on you that all your energy had been drained. You were now running on fumes. Feeling like you'd hit a brick wall, your limps suddenly felt very heavy. Trying to stay awake, you opened your eyes wide as you drew your knees up and rested your feet on the bench seat.

 _Why were vampires such a touchy subject for Kiryu?_ you wondered.

You closed your eyes for a moment and thought. Today was Friday, and there was no school tomorrow. You'd have plenty of time to work on the project, with Kiryu's help of course. You opened your eyes and noticed that the sun had set. Lacerations in the sky revealed splays of crimson through faint pink clouds. The breeze from earlier now felt cool against your skin. You shivered, and goose bumps formed along your arms and legs. Realizing you were close to curfew, you rose and headed for the Sun Dormitory. As your hand touched the metal handle of the dorm, you suddenly realized you left your psychology textbook on the bench.

Sighing heavily, you begrudgingly walked back.

 **"The Fountain" movie soundtrack ("Stay With Me"):** /FHCNtaf2ypY?t=19m40s (19:40-24:50)

As you walked, the sky grew darker. Realizing you were getting closer to curfew, you hurried to the place where you sat. The bench came into your view, and you saw your textbook. Relieved it was still there, you picked it up and headed back toward your dorm.

As you walked back, you couldn't help but think someone was following you, watching you with hungry eyes. Bracing yourself, you quickly turned around and saw two students from the Night Class, Hanabusa Aidou and Akatsuki Kain. Opposite from your uniform, theirs was white with a crimson tie that was tied closely to their necks. Although you weren't one of those crazy fan girls that drooled at the sight of a Night Class student, you couldn't stop yourself from staring at them. After all, they were so handsome, they looked almost god-like, as if the hands of perfection itself had created them, never acquainted with the definition of the word "flaw".

"Good evening, _," Hanabusa said, formally bowing to you.

"Good evening, Hanabusa-senpai," you replied, nodding back in acknowledgement.

"There's no need to be formal. Please, call us by our first names: Aidou," he said, gesturing to himself, "and Kain," he said, pointing to Akatsuki.

"Okay, Aidou...Kain." Kain nodded his head silently.

Almost seeming to sense your amazement of their attractiveness, Aidou smirked and began to circle around you, his seemingly predatory gaze burning along your body. A unknown fear gripped your heart, forming a lump in your throat. Swallowing, you maintained your eyes on him. Anxiety began to form, like a stone being dropped in the pit of your stomach. Something wasn't right here. You could feel it.

"You're such a pretty girl," Aidou said playfully.

You blushed. It didn't seem right for someone so beautiful to be giving _you_ a compliment. Feeling the heat spread across your face, you bowed your head, allowing your hair to cover your face. A small chuckle escaped Aidou's throat as you felt a cold hand gingerly brush your hair out of your face and tuck it behind your right ear. You felt your heart quicken its pace. Then, he gently took your left wrist in his frozen hands like it was made of expensive crystal and he was afraid it would break. Bringing his lips to the back of your hand, he placed a gentle kiss on your soft skin. His lips felt like ice, and you felt your heart jolt, running adrenaline through your system.

"So very pretty, indeed," he murmured, almost hypnotically. He then began to hum absentmindedly. His voice sounded like a soft lullaby, and you felt your eyelids growing slightly heavy. Control faded from your body, leaving you in a mindless trance. Thoughts no longer formed in your mind as you wordlessly watched Aidou's graceful actions. No sooner had your heartbeat returned to its normal state than he turned your wrist and traced along the pale blue branches of veins with his finger, examining it ever so slowly, like a piece of artwork. "Beautiful…" he trailed off as he gently pressed his lips against your wrist. Suddenly, you felt his lips curl up into a smile on your skin.

"Do you mind, my darling, if I..." he kissed your wrist harder and then parted his lips, revealing a pair of white…FANGS?!

Your mind felt so foggy. Should you be scared? Was it even all that bad? You weren't sure. Without even registering what was happening, you felt a sudden sharp pain in your wrist. You winced, and a small cry escaped your throat. A low chuckle sounded from Aidou's throat. Almost as if his laugh signaled it, you felt your body grow physically weaker, the tempo of your heartbeat decreasing its speed with each passing second. The air around you felt thick and heavy, as if you were breathing through a wet cloth. You were now gasping for air as your lungs constricted. A strange mixture of heaviness and slight nausea swept over you and your knees buckled and gave out from under your weight. Right before you collapsed on the ground, Aidou caught you in his arms and pulled you closer to his cold, marble body. Surprisingly, he was much stronger than you thought.

Suddenly, you woke from your stupor. _Help!_ your mind screamed. _Please, help! Somebody. Anybody._ As if your thoughts took voice, you saw the barrel of a shiny, silver gun touching Aidou's head.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" a voice growled.

Aidou unlatched his lips from your wrist and glanced above the gun's barrel. He smirked, a trail of your blood running down the corner of his lips. His tongue flicked out, cleaning up any trace of your life force that was on him. His crimson eyes seemed to give off a faint glow as he frowned at the bearer of the weapon.

"Aww, c'mon, Zero. I was just having a little fun," Aidou chuckled.

"Get out of my sight," Zero said grimly, cocking the gun.

"Fine. Have it your way, Zero. Maybe someday it'll dawn on you that it is fun. Sooner or later, you'll come around."

He let go of you as he and Kain walked away. Just before you hit the ground, Kiryu caught you. Placing his pistol back in its holster, he examined you, his lavender eyes scanning your body. His expression changed from the familiar anger to a surprising concern.

"_, are you alright?" he asked.

Not even able to find the strength to speak, you subtly groaned in response. As he rose, he scooped an arm under your knees, the other on your upper back. Looking off in the direction of Aidou and Kain's departure, you noticed his face darken with fury. You grabbed the collar of his white shirt, the blood from the bite mark on your wrist soaking the fabric. He looked at you with pain in his eyes.

"Ze-ro," you muttered before your mind completely succumbed to unconsciousness and your vision faded to black.


	2. Chapter 2

"Smother" by Daughter ( watch?v=GnkzvAXWV-0)

Another night of restless sleeping, some dreams imbued with flashes of memories from previous days, while others were of you simply cradled in the arms of an unsettling darkness. After what seemed like only a brief moment of sleep, you finally awoke to the faint sound of birds chirping. Opening your eyes, still half-lidded and heavy with sleep, you rose to a sitting position. How did you make it back to your dorm last night? Hands ran through your knotted hair as you began to sift through memories of last night, but they all fell through like tiny grains of sand that were desperately tried to remember anything, but nothing came back to you except your classes and lectures. Other than that, everything was just a blur.

Groaning, you made yourself get out of bed as you scuffled your feet down the hall toward the female dorm's public bathroom. Stepping into a steaming hot shower, you let the water soak your hair as you closed your eyes. The hot water relaxed your aching muscles. Again, you attempted to remember anything about last night but to no avail. Reluctantly, you turned off the shower, your body already shivering from the warmth that escaped your skin in wisps of steam. Once in your room, you pulled on a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and a pair of white Converse shoes with a red rose insignia on the sides. You crammed your laptop, a notebook, and some pens and highlighters into your backpack, throwing one of the straps over your shoulder before closing the door to your room.

Your keys jingled on the lanyard that hung from your back pocket as you jogged downstairs and pushed open the main entrance door. You took in a deep inhale of the crisp autumn air, filling your lungs like balloons. Pale sunlight energized you as you bathed in its welcoming warmth. As you walked around campus, you heard someone calling after you.

"_! Wait up!"

As you turned around, you saw it was Yuuki. You smiled at her innocent nature as she ran to catch up with you. She was like a little ray of sunshine in your small, gloomy world. She was also the first friend you made when you arrived at Cross Academy, always being there when you needed her. Her short, brown hair blew away from her face as she ran.

"Hey, Yuuki," you greeted cheerfully.

"Hey," she said breathlessly.

"What's up?" you asked.

"Oh, nothin' much. Just going to the library to work on the project for the final for Mr. Lee's class."

"Oh. I'm heading there too," you stated, "I was actually looking for Zero. Thought I'd maybe catch him on campus, but I can't find him anywhere."

"Who can?" Yuuki asked jokingly, "It's hard enough for me to find him, and we work together as prefects!"

"Yeah," you replied, your eyes smiling in agreement.

Standing in front of the library, you opened one of the heavy mahogany doors to the massive building. The red-bricked edifice loomed over you, like a titan protecting you so happened to impose on. Centuries of dust-encrusted books lay there on the shelves inside, waiting for a curious reader to open their pages and become engulfed in their yet-to-be-discovered information.

Because the library had just opened for the day, a few students were already inside. With the librarian's help, you were directed to the mythical section, and you both stood there, searching for any books pertaining to your subject. Satisfied by what you found, you both plopped your books on a table near the library's entrance. You took your seats and began researching.

"Still" by Daughter ( watch?v=nHlDU7GokIc)

As you stuck your nose in a book, your mind was elsewhere. You wondered where Zero was. You knew for a fact that you wouldn't be the one stuck again doing all the work. You mentally kicked yourself when you realized you should have gotten his number yesterday after class. Suddenly, a faint wind blew your hair ever so slightly. Looking up, you noticed that Zero had opened the door. Your shoulders relaxed and a faint smile stretched on your lips, relieved that he was finally here. Glancing at you, he made his way to your table.

"Hey," you greeted quietly.

"Hey," he replied back.

You shoved one of the thick books in front of him as he sat down in the chair next to you. As you continued reading, you couldn't help but feel like you were being watched. You looked up only to see Zero staring at you. The faintest of warmth spread across your pale cheeks as a slight fluttering began in your stomach.

"What's wrong?" you asked quietly.

Pain suddenly dominated his face. "N-nothing," he said, casting his eyes down on the table.

You shrugged your shoulders and continued reading. As you shook of the strangeness of his usually aloof demeanor, you eventually became lost in your research. All your focus was sharpened into this project. Pen in hand, you began scribbling down notes while reading from both your mountain of books along with scholarly articles from every database you had access to on your laptop. Your research led you to begin reading about the necessity of blood and its crucial purpose for a vampire's existence. Suddenly, like a flash of lightning from the sky, memories of last night began to flood your mind.

Almost instinctively, you turned your wrist and noticed two small, pink puncture wounds. Horrified, you quickly pushed back your seat from the table, its loud scraping meriting a glare from an already-irritated librarian. Without thinking, your legs began moving, and soon you found yourself running towards the entrance, your shoulder pushing the door open for your escape.

"_?" Yuuki asked, starting to get out of her seat.

"I'll take care of it," Zero said sternly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Yuuki sat back down and watched as Zero ran after you. Dead leaves swirled in a windy flurry as you kept running. Your lungs burned like an unextinguishable fire. Your legs felt like they were made of a heavy metal. You didn't stop running until you were near the Moon Dormitory, a location deemed off-limits to Day Class students. The ominous gates towered over you like an eight-foot-tall giant.

Tears began to fill your eyes as you stared intently at your wrist. Why hadn't you noticed it beforehand?. You placed your head in your hands and felt tears began to spill from your eyes and down your cheeks. You heard footsteps growing louder and slower as they got closer to you. You rose your head out of your hands and saw that the footsteps belonged to Zero. Lavender eyes met yours as they narrowed in concern at your crumbling state. Knitting his eyebrows together, as if he struggled whether or not to console you. Sadness clouded his eyes as he came closer to you.

"I remember," you whispered, "I remember everything about last night. Why am I not dead?"

Zero sighed and took one of your hands in his. His icy skin felt a made your heart leap in surprise as it touched the warmth of yours.

"I saved you. That's why you're not dead. I tried to erase every memory you had about last night, but something must have triggered them to come back. I was hoping you wouldn't remember."

Taking a slow inhale, Zero looked at the darkening sky before continuing. "Cross Academy has a terrible, dark secret that no one in the Day Class knows about except Yuuki, the Headmaster, and me. We try to keep the Day Class students away from the Night Class students. That's because...everyone in the Night Class is a vampire."

For a moment, your head felt light, and your knees weakened. This couldn't be real. Vampires? For one thing, they didn't even exist...but then again, how would you explain what took place last night? Your eyes scanned the floor for answers before meeting with Zero's again. You then noticed that, amongst the confusion and sudden leaking of new information, he had been holding your hand. Feeling your stomach make a tiny, strange flip, you slowly pulled your hand away.

"D-does Yuuki know about last night? And...and the Headmaster?" you asked, your voice shaking.

"I didn't tell them. I thought that since I erased your memories, you wouldn't be able to tell anyone the secret, but now that you remember, I don't think there's anything I can do now."

A million daggers stabbed you in the heart as a wave of confusion and hurt washed over you. Did he erase your memories because he cared and didn't want you to go through the pain of the memories, or did he do it because he didn't trust you to keep the secret? Swallowing the lump in your throat, you looked him directly in the eyes.

"I won't tell, Zero, I promise. You believe me, don't you?"

Silence surrounded you both as he looked down at his feet.

"Zero!" your voice rose, and much to your surprise, your hands suddenly placed themselves on either side of his face, forcing him to look up at you. "Do you honestly think that I would give away the secret of Cross Academy just like that? Seriously?"

You felt slightly hurt that he didn't believe you. You knew in your heart that you wouldn't tell a soul, not even Yuuki, your best friend in the entire world. His eyes rose back to your face.

"It's not that, _. It's just that...well...some secrets lead to others, and those secrets are even more sinister than others."

"Like what?" you asked.

He just remained silent. You heard nothing but the beating of your aching heart and the rustling of the leaves as a faint, cool wind blew.

"Zero," you said, your face getting closer, "You can tell me. I already know that huge secret. How bad is a tiny one?"

He looked at you, a slight tinge of pink spreading across his pale face. This time, he didn't avert his eyes from you. They stayed fixed on your eyes as he spoke.

"If I told you the secret, I don't know what I'd do to myself. I might...kill...myself."

Shock enveloped your whole body as the last word escaped his lips. All color drained from your body as you thought. What secret would be so detrimental that it would lead to suicide if discovered?

"Is it about you?" you asked softly.

He placed his hands on yours as they remained on his face. His eyes spoke of an inexplicable fear and apprehension, as if it was painful for him to even fathom it. Would this secret change your life if you knew? Would it change his?

Suddenly, he cried out in pain. You released your hands from his face. He grabbed his neck as he panted heavily. That was when you noticed it. On the left side of his neck was a strange insignia that began to glow a strange, ominous red.. He was in such agonizing pain that he began gasping for air. You backed away slowly, unsure of you should run and call for help.

"Zero?" you asked cautiously.

You outstretched your right hand towards him, and he grabbed it. You cried out in surprise as he pulled you towards him, leaving no space between your body and his. Your heart pounded wildly in fear. What was the matter with him? He never acted this way before. Suddenly, his face inched closer to your neck.

"What are you-" you tried to ask, but pure fear cut you off.

Zero began to gently kiss your neck. You were surprised both because of its unexpectancy and of its gentleness. Strong arms wrapped themselves around you as you tried to pull away. His lips pressed harder against your neck as your heart raced faster. You felt numb. You couldn't move. Something wet grazed against your neck gingerly, and you were alarmed to realize it was Zero's tongue. You didn't know whether to scream or cry. Thousands of emotions ran through your head like a rushing river. Then, Zero's grip loosened, and his face was only inches from yours. His warm breath lingered on your lips. You looked at his face in a mixture of bewilderment and fear. His eyes had changed into a deep crimson and seemed to glow as the sun began to set on the horizon. Sweat trickled down his pale face. Two white fangs protruded from his lips. Your eyes widened in terror.

"Go," he whispered, releasing you.

You stood there for a minute, feet rooted in fear and confusion.

"Go!" he growled.

Breaking free of your fear-induced paralysis, you turned and sprinted back to the Sun Dormitory. You rushed up the stairs and sped down the long hallway. As if in a nightmare, it seemed like you would never make it to your room. Once you were finally there, you ran inside and made sure the door was locked and the window was shut. Pure adrenaline sent your entire body into overdrive. Blood rushed to your head as your temples throbbed to the rhythm of your heightened pulse. You almost collapsed on your bed as your legs buckled from beneath you. The vision of your shaking hands suddenly blurred as tears welled up in your eyes.

So, this was the secret, the secret that seemed to dire and so frightening you desperately wished it wasn't true. Kiryu Zero was a vampire.


End file.
